1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protector that protects a part of a living body where medical equipment, such as tubes and cables that are implanted in the body, enters the body from infection (note that such medical equipment is collectively referred to as “tubes” hereinafter). The invention also relates to the components used in such a protector and to a blood pump system that uses such a protector.
2. Related Art
A variety of medical treatments have been conventionally performed using medical equipment, such as tubes, that is implanted in a living body. Examples of such treatments include the use of artificial hearts during and following heart surgery, dialysis, and Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (hereinafter, “CAPD”). Infections at a part where a tube passes through the skin (hereinafter “tube entry part”) pose a significant clinical problem during such treatments. At the tube entry part, the bonding forces between the body tissue near the skin and the surface of the tube are weak, so that external forces can easily detach the surface of the tube from the body tissue. Bacteria can enter the skin tissue at such parts, thereby causing infections. Once the tube entry part has become infected, the infection progresses along the tubes deep into the body tissue, which increases the risk of serious complications such as septicemia.
In order to solve the above problem, the present applicant has developed a fixing assembly and has disclosed this assembly in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-140125. FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional drawing of this fixing assembly. As shown in FIG. 16, the fixing assembly 910 protects the tube entry part where a tube 990 passes through the skin of a living body from infection, and includes a sticking part 920, which is stuck onto the skin 902 of the living body in a periphery of the tube entry part, and a covering 940 which covers the tube entry part, forms an internal space 908 that surrounds the tube entry part, and includes a passage 980 through which the tube 990 passes.
The fixing assembly 910 makes it difficult for a tube that passes through the skin of a living body to move, so that external forces are prevented from detaching the tube from the body tissue, which is effective in suppressing infections. Additionally, when this fixing assembly 910 is used, the internal space 908 that surrounds the tube entry part can be filled with medication, so that infections can be suppressed even more effectively.
However, when there is an infection at the tube entry part, there is a very high risk of the infected area progressing along the tube and spreading deep into the body tissue to cause serious complications such as septicemia, so that it is necessary to provide even greater protection against infections.